The Grayson Power Plant, named after the City's first Chief Engineer and General Manager Loren Grayson, has been faithfully serving the electrical power needs of the City of Glendale since 1941. Prior to 1937, the City purchased all of its electrical power from the Pacific Light and Power Company (today known as Southern California Edison). That same year after evaluating the current and future electrical needs of the Glendale community, the City not only entered into an agreement to purchase hydroelectric power from the Hoover Dam Project but also made a decision to establish a City owned and operated steam powered electrical generating facility. Construction of the new facility began in 1939 and the first generating unit went into service in 1941. Since that time the facility has been expanded to meet the growing needs of the residents and businesses in the City and has proven to be an invaluable asset to both GWP and more importantly to their customers. However, over time due to age and normal degradation of the equipment, the reliability, efficiency and cost effectiveness of the facility has steadily and continuously declined.

Recognizing the tremendous benefit that locally generated power has provided our City and seeing the long term benefits that would be derived from replacing the existing units not only from an efficiency and cost perspective but also an environmental quality standpoint, the City has embarked on a process for the potential replacement/repowering of the existing facility.

The primary objective of the Project is to replace the aged, inefficient, inflexible, and unreliable generation units at Grayson Power Plant with approximately 260 megawatt (MW) net modern power generation that is efficient, reliable, operationally flexible, and that can easily integrate into the City of Glendale’s power system. This Project would ensure system reliability, balance renewable imports, and meet the power needs of the City in the event that the importing capacity from external transmission lines is not available to serve its load. 

The City is proposing to replace all the existing generation facilities and their related infrastructure, with the exception of Unit 9, by removing existing aboveground and belowground equipment, and facilities and building new generation facilities.  This includes demolishing the Grayson Power Plant Boiler Building, replacing Cooling Towers 1 through 5, and replacing the generation units, designated as Unit 8A and 8B/C. The existing generation facilities (with the exception of Unit 9) would be replaced with a combination of combined cycle and simple cycle gas turbine generation units. 

The primary objective of the Project is to replace the aged, inefficient, inflexible, and unreliable generation units at Grayson Power Plant with approximately 260 megawatt (MW) net modern power generation that is efficient, reliable, operationally flexible, and that can easily integrate into the City of Glendale’s power system. This Project would ensure system reliability, balance renewable imports, and meet the power needs of the City in the event that the importing capacity from external transmission lines is not available to serve its load. 

Overview

The City of Glendale, Department of Water and Power (City) is proposing to repower the Grayson Power Plant (Project), located in an industrial area of the City of Glendale at 800 Air Way, Glendale, California 91201, just northeast of the Interstate 5 and Highway 134 interchange.  A majority of the facilities located at the Grayson Power Plant, with the exception of Unit 9 (a simple cycle peaking plant built in 2003), were completed between 1941 and 1977, and are proposed to be replaced with more reliable, efficient, flexible, and cleaner units and related facilities and infrastructure.  The City is proposing to replace all the existing generation facilities, units, and their related infrastructure, with the exception of Unit 9, by removing existing aboveground and belowground equipment, and facilities and building new generation facilities.  This includes demolishing the Grayson Power Plant Boiler Building, replacing Cooling Towers 1 through 5, and replacing the generation units, designated as Unit 8A and 8B/C. The existing generation facilities (with the exception of Unit 9) would be replaced with a combination of combined cycle and simple cycle gas turbine generation units.

The Project would be located entirely within the existing Grayson Power Plant, an operating power plant. The site is bounded to the south by the Verdugo Wash and Highway 134, to the west by the Los Angeles River and Interstate 5, to the north by commercial properties, and to the east by commercial and residential properties. The approximate coordinates of the Project are 34° 09’ 19” N and 118° 16’ 42” W.

On July 23, 2019, at a regularly scheduled meeting, the Glendale City Council unanimously approved the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan and adopted the motions and resolutions that will allow the City to commence preliminary design, environmental reviews, permitting, detailed financial analysis, and contract negotiations for the preferred clean energy portfolio.

The Integrated Resource plan will provide a diverse, clean energy portfolio of generation, transmission, and distributed generation assets. The portfolio will allow GWP to provide its customers with reliable, affordable, and environmentally sustainable power and will enable GWP to transition to a 100% clean energy future. The proposed portfolio includes:

• 75 megawatt (MW) 300 megawatt-hour (MWh) Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).
• 93 MW of Internal Combustion Engines.
• 50 MW of distributed energy programs

The proposed programs include:

• Residential Distributed Energy Resources;
• Public Spaces Distributed Energy Resources;
• Residential and Large Commercial Energy Efficiency and Demand Response; and
• Small Commercial Energy Efficiency and Demand Response Programs.
• Continued reliance on GWP’s remaining, existing generation and transmission resources, including Grayson Unit 9, Magnolia and Intermountain Power Plant, imported resources, and market purchases utilizing GWP’s existing transmission rights.

In addition, the City Council directed staff to continue to seek additional resources while proceeding with this plan in order to further reduce Glendale’s carbon footprint.

Purpose and Need

The proposed repowering of the Grayson Power Plant is necessary to meet current and future City energy needs and California Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) requirements. Pursuant with Senate Bill 350 that was signed into legislation in October 2015, the RPS requires retail sellers and publicly owned utilities including GWP to procure 50 percent of their electricity from eligible renewable energy resources by 2030. The City serves its power system load through a combination of renewable energy sources (both local and imports), non-renewable imports, and local generation.  The City system’s single largest contingency is nominally 100 megawatts (MW) based on imported power through the maximum City allocation on the 500 kilovolt (kV) Pacific Direct Current (DC) Intertie (Path 65).

In order to meet retail power load obligations, Glendale Water and Power (GWP) relies on a combination of both local and remote generation, as well as long-term power purchase agreements and spot market purchases from a variety of suppliers throughout the Western Electricity Coordination Council (WECC) territory, including the California Independent System Operator (CAISO).  Natural gas for generation is supplied by several sources, which include gas reserves in Wyoming, a pre-paid gas commodity contract, and the daily gas market. GWP also uses transmission and generation rights to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities and to transact with counterparties in the wholesale market. As a result of recent state mandates, GWP is becoming more involved in short and long-term markets for renewable energy and carbon allowances.  GWP operates within the Balancing Area of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

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The Proposed Biogas Generation Project

Landfill gas is considered a renewable energy resource. Currently this landfill gas is located at an existing Class III nonhazardous landfill that has been accepting waste since the 1960’s. This waste is naturally decomposing and producing landfill gas that includes methane, a greenhouse gas that is combustible and can be put to beneficial use. This will help the City of Glendale achieve the State of California mandate that every utility shall provide a certain portion of renewable energy to their electric generation portfolio. By converting landfill gas to renewable energy the City can receive 100% renewable credit for the energy produced. The City will produce and receive 100% renewable credit by installing generation units that can directly burn the landfill gas at the project site.

Landfill to Gas Energy Project

Existing Scholl Canyon Landfill Gas to Energy Project

In 1994, the City of Glendale developed a gas-to-energy project at Scholl Canyon landfill.  The project captured the naturally-occurring raw landfill gas (LFG) that results primarily from the decomposition of organic waste deposited in the landfill.  The LFG, by state and local regulatory mandate, must be controlled in such a manner as to eliminate the venting to the environment of this volatile heat trapping gas that has high methane content.  This gas is often referred to as a greenhouse gas or GHG.  The accepted control method is the combustion of the raw LFG in a flare, in an engine, or in a turbine, all of which dramatically reduce the overall toxicity and global warming impacts of methane.

Prior to 1994, the LFG at Scholl Canyon was combusted exclusively in the permitted flares operating at the landfill, which are managed by the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County under a Joint Powers Authority agreement with the City of Glendale.  When the gas-to-energy project was developed, the LFG was transmitted via a 5.5 mile pipeline to the Grayson Power Plant where it was blended with natural gas and used as fuel in three older, converted boilers (Units 3, 4 & 5) to generate electricity.  The flares have remained in place and are permitted and operable and act as a secondary point of delivery/control for the gas.  Over the years, the flares have been used, albeit less frequently than before, during maintenance periods, emergency shutdowns, and equipment failures at Grayson.  During the past three years, these types of occurrences have been more frequent as Unit 3 was taken out of service due to age and there have been several major repair projects on Units 4 & 5.

In the course of compiling the Environmental Impact Report for the proposed Grayson Repowering Project, one particular study area that was included was an evaluation of air quality.  The City assessed the emissions from the proposed Grayson facility as well as from the existing facility for a comparison.  The results indicated that the emissions from the existing, older and mechanically-degraded Grayson generating units presented a higher than acceptable health risk.  The results are included in the EIR on page 9.96 (Table 9-7) and were presented in City Council meetings on February 6 and April 10, 2018.  The City promptly notified the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) of the findings and based on the findings, the City proactively implemented a risk reduction measure and transferred the combustion of the LFG to the secondary location at the landfill flare station.  The City continues to work with SCAQMD on the future handling and control of the LFG.

For more information on the Proposed Biogas Renewable Generation Project click here.

Notice of Preparation

Initial Study  

NOP/IS Comments

See the links below for Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and the Draft EIR (at the bottom of the page)

You may also view the Final EIR in person at the following locations:

City of Glendale Community Development Department Planning Division
633 East Broadway, Room 103
Glendale, CA 91206

Downtown Central Library 
222 E Harvard St.
Glendale, CA 91205

City of Glendale Water & Power Administration 
141 N. Glendale Ave., Level 4
Glendale, CA 91206

The Glendale City Council discussed the Final EIR on April 10, 2018

FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT SECTIONS

COVER, TABLE OF CONTENTS, AND GLOSSARY

1.0 INTRODUCTION

2.0 SUMMARY

3.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION

4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ANALYSIS - 4.1 CATEGORIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT FACTORS

4.2 AESTHETICS
4.3 AIR QUALITY
4.4 GEOLOGY AND SOILS
4.5 GREENHOUSE GASES
4.6 HAZARDS AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
4.7 HYDROLOGY AND WATER QUALITY
4.8  NOISE
4.9 TRANSPORTATION AND TRAFFIC
4.10 TRIBAL CULTURAL RESOURCES
4.11 CUMULATIVE IMPACT ANALYSIS

5.0 ALTERNATIVES

6.0 OTHER CEQA

7.0 ORGANIZATIONS

8.0 REFERENCES

9.0 RESPONSE TO COMMENTS

9.1.1 TOPICAL RESPONSES
9.1.2 RESPONSE TO COMMENTS DURING PUBLIC MEETINGS
9.1.3 RESPONSES TO COMMENTS

10.0 MITIGATED MONITORING AND REPORTING PLAN

L1 - L99

L100 - L199

L200 - L299

L300 - L399 

L328 Attachment

L400 - L499

L500 - L599

L600 - L699

L700 - L799

L800 - L899

L900 - L999

L1000 - L1099

L1100 - l 1133

APPENDIX A INITIAL STUDY AND NOTICE OF PREPARATION

APPENDIX B WILL SERVE LETTERS

APPENDIX C AESTHETICS TECHNICAL REPORT

APPENDIX D AIR QUALITY TECHNICAL REPORTS

APPENDIX E GEOLOGY AND SOILS TECHNICAL REPORTS

APPENDIX F GREENHOUSE (GHG) EMISSION INVENTORY

APPENDIX G HAZARDS AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS TECHNICAL REPORTS

APPENDIX H PRELIMINARY GRADING AND DRAINAGE PLANS

APPENDIX I NOISE TECHNICAL REPORT

APPENDIX J TRAFFIC TECHNICAL REPORT

APPENDIX K RESPONSE TO COMMENT ATTACHMENTS

DRAFT EIR

Click here to view the whole Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Grayson Repowering Project. The DEIR is also broken down by sections below.

The original 45 day review period was from September 18, 2017 through November 3, 2017. The City of Glendale extended the review period until November 20, 2017.

Click here to view FAQs for the Grayson Repowering DEIR.

Click here to view the Power Point from GWP's Special Commission Meeting on the DEIR.

Click here to view the DEIR Notice of Availability
Click here to view the DEIR Notice of Availability for the comment period extension

DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT SECTIONS

TITLE PAGE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ABBREVIATIONS

GLOSSARY

1.0 INTRODUCTION

2.0 SUMMARY

3.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION

4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ANALYSIS

4.1 CATEGORIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
4.2 AESTHETICS
4.3 AIR QUALITY
4.4 GEOLOGY AND SOILS
4.5 GREENHOUSE GASES
4.6 HAZARDS AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
4.7 HYDROLOGY AND WATER QUALITY
4.8 NOISE
4.9 TRANSPORTATION AND TRAFFIC
4.10 TRIBAL CULTURAL RESOURCES
4.11 CUMULATIVE IMPACT ANALYSIS

5.0 ALTERNATIVES

6.0 OTHER CEQA

7.0 ORGANIZATIONS

8.0 REFERENCES

APPENDIX A INITIAL STUDY AND NOTICE OF PREPARATION

APPENDIX B WILL SERVE LETTERS

APPENDIX C AESTHETICS TECHNICAL REPORT

APPENDIX D AIR QUALITY TECHNICAL REPORTS

APPENDIX E GEOLOGY AND SOILS TECHNICAL REPORTS

APPENDIX F GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INVENTORY

APPENDIX G HAZARDS AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS TECHNICAL REPORTS

APPENDIX H PRELIMINARY GRADING AND DRAINAGE PLANS

APPENDIX I NOISE TECHNICAL REPORTS

APPENDIX J TRAFFIC TECHNICAL REPORT

GWP Overview 

Glendale Water & Power (GWP) is the City of Glendale’s water and electric utility. GWP provides water to over 34,000 customers and generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to over 89,500 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Glendale, California.

In order to meet the energy needs of the City of Glendale, GWP relies on a combination of local and imported generation resources, coupled with imported spot market energy purchases from a variety of suppliers throughout the Western Electricity Coordination Council (WECC), including the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). GWP uses transmission lines (owned and leased) and generation rights to bring in energy to serve Glendale from remote locations. GWP operates within the Balancing Area of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

GWP is faced with the imminent retirement of its only local generation resource, the natural gas fired Grayson Power Plant (Grayson), located at 800 Air Way in Glendale, CA.  GWP is extremely dependent on imported power over cconstrained electric transmission, and must replace the retiring Grayson units with reliable local generation. The retirement of the Grayson Power Plant presents GWP with a unique opportunity to shift to cleaner, more efficient technology to power the City in the future. 

The Repowering Project

GWP is proposing a new, cleaner portfolio to replace the retiring Grayson generation (a “repowering project”).  GWP proposes to replace Grayson Units 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 8A and 8BC with new, efficient, and flexible generation to meet multiple objectives, including facilitating compliance with California Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) obligations, reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions consistent with state mandates, and local reliability under a variety of conditions, with minimal impacts on retail rates. The existing Grayson will be retained.
 

The Project site is located in an industrial area of the City of Glendale at 800 Air Way, Glendale, CA 91201, just northeast of the Interstate 5 and Highway 134 interchange.  The site is bounded to the south by the Verdugo Wash and Highway 134, to the west by the Los Angeles River and Interstate 5, to the north by commercial properties and to the east by commercial and residential properties. The site is currently used as the Grayson Power Plant. The Grayson Repowering Project would be located entirely within the existing Grayson Power Plant, an operating power plant. 

Why is a Repowering Necessary? 

Glendale is heavily dependent upon imported power to serve its customers, and the transmission import capacity is less than the peak summer, so GWP needs to have a local source of power to back up the transmission imports and ensure reliable service. Originally commissioned in the 1940s, the Grayson Power Plant is well past its useful life and needs to be repowered in order to meet the current and future energy needs of the City of Glendale. A repowering project would replace the aged, unreliable, inefficient, and high maintenance equipment at the Grayson Power Plant with new, efficient, faster-starting, and more environmentally-responsible generation technologies. A repowering of the Grayson Power Plant will achieve the following benefits:

• Reliable service - by helping GWP provide energy to customers when imported energy and local renewable energy sources are not enough.
• Local generation source - a locally-controlled source of generation is important to ensure reliable service when we lose an external energy source, such as when a transmission line goes down.
• Integration of renewable energy – by providing a source of power that helps “fill the gaps” of solar and wind resources due to their varying nature.
• Affordable rates for Glendale Customers - by reducing the high maintenance costs, extra fuel costs, and emergency spot market power purchases costs that we spend now due to frequent break downs of the aged, unreliable, inefficient, and high maintenance equipment.
• Improved air quality – the new technology will be more efficient and will comply with new regulations requiring lower air emissions.
• Supports water conservation - by eliminating the use of potable water for power generation.
   

​An added urgency for repowering Grayson comes from the South Coast Air Quality Managegment District's (SCAQMD) Rule 1135 which was implemented after the original repower. Rule 1135 requries GWP to commit, by June 30, 2022, to plan to bring the power plant units into compliance with current day emission limit requirements. No later than June 30, 2022, we must inform the SCAQMD whether we will replace or modify older units to meet current day emission limits, or if we intend to shut them down by the deadline: December 31, 2023. By returning the Grayson Unit 9 enissions control system, it can comply with the new requirements. Unit 8A and 8BC would need to meet the rule, however we cannot economically or feasibly modify Units 1-5 to meet Rule 1135's requirements.

. 

What is being proposed?

The 2018 Final Environmental Impact Report for the Grayson Repowering Project (2018 Final EIR) proposes a 262 MW repowering project that would replace Units 1-8 at the Grayson Power Plant with four new units: two combined cycle units and two simple cycle units. This project is sized to meet all required contingencies (i.e., to account for the loss of GWP’s two largest sources of power), with a 346 MW peak load (346 MW is the maximum or peak load that GWP has had to service in the past). The project would be permitted to run with enough operating hours such that GWP could operate in “islanded” mode if necessary – i.e., separated from the outside world – providing up to 262 MW.  The 262 MW repowering project is shown above.

New Project Alternatives and Developments

In 2018, the City Council did not take action on the 2018 Final EIR, but instead directed GWP to look for greener alternatives. In response, GWP issued a Request for Proposals for Local and Regional Renewable, Low-Carbon, and Zero Carbon Energy and Capacity Resource Options to Serve the City of Glendale (Clean Energy RFP), evaluated and modeled the proposals received through the Clean Energy RFP, and identified a cleaner portfolio to meet the City’s energy needs.  That portfolio was presented to the City Council in GWP’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan on July 23, 2019.  The 2019 Integrated Resource Plan is found here.

Through the Clean Energy RFP and the Integrated Resource Planning process, GWP has identified new, local, clean energy resources that can help meet the City’s energy needs, making a smaller-sized repowering project at Grayson feasible. As outlined in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan, GWP is working to implement at least 50 MW of local distributed renewable generation, demand response, and energy efficiency programs within the City of Glendale, including: 

• Up to 28 MW of solar energy with 25.25 MW/50.5 MWH of battery storage capacity through a Virtual Power Plant;
  ​
• Up to 10 MW (by year 4) of demand response resources through GWP's Peak Savings Program;
  ​
• Up to 8.9 MW (35,500 MWH) of energy efficiency savings through the GWP Business Energy Upgrade Program.
   
• Evaluation of City-owned land for development of solar/ storage for community solar.

These are just few of the energy efficiency, demand response, and solar energy programs in GWP’s service territory and would be in addition to existing solar and other clean and renewable resources. More information on GWP’s clean energy programs is found here. 

New Grayson Repowering Project Alternatives

GWP has developed two new, reduced-size project alternatives for Grayson.  These two Alternatives are identified in the Partially-Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report as “Alternative 7” and “Alternative 8.” Both of these proposed new alternatives include about 95 MW of thermal generation and 75 MW/300 MWH of battery energy storage. Both are compliant with South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) emissions limits and have 80% less energy production and fuel usage than the originally proposed repowering project.

Alternative 7 – Wartsila/ Tesla Project Alternative

• Adds 75 MW/300MWH of battery energy storage

• Removes all existing units except Unit 9 (the youngest unit, built in 2003)

• Adds five Wartsila 18.5 MW internal combustion engine generators – about 93 MWs total

• Adds a new Glendale Switching Station to add resiliency to the GWP system

Click here to see a Visual Simulation of this alternative.

Alternative 8 – Unit 8A/ 8BC Refurbishment Plus Battery Storage

• Adds 75 MW/300 MWH of battery energy storage

• Removes steam boilers and steam turbines, and retains Units 8A, 8BC (built in the 1970s), and Unit 9

• Refurbishes Units 8A and 8BC gas turbine generators with a new steam plant - about 95 MWs total 

• Unit 8A will be converted to a simple cycle unit similar to Unit 9

• Unit 8B remains a combined cycle unit, but could now start up much more quickly

• All other old and obsolete equipment would be replaced improving reliability, reducing emissions, and allowing the units to startup within 10 minutes (as compared to hours in the past)

• Adds a new Glendale Switching Station to add resiliency to the GWP system

Click here to see a visual simulation of this alternative. 

Opportunities for Public Review 

GWP has prepared a Partially Recirculated Draft EIR (PR-DEIR) that updates the 2018 Final EIR and evaluates two new reduced-size project alternatives. The PR-DEIR was issued August 9, 2021 for a 60 day public comment period. In addition to reviewing the document online, hard copies of the PR-DEIR are also available for review at:

Due to COVID-19, in person review at the Community Development Department and GWP Administration Office is by appointment only. Please contact the individuals listed below to make an appointment:

City of Glendale Community Development Department Planning Division 
633 E Broadway, Room 103
Glendale, CA 91206
Contact Erik Krause at (818) 937-8156 to make an appointment.

Glendale Water & Power Administration Office
141 N Glendale Ave, 4^th Floor
Glendale, CA 91206
Contact Catalina Lee at (818) 548-2107 to make an appointment.

Glendale Central Library 
222 E Harvard St
Glendale, CA 91205
To view the PR-DEIR, residents will not need to make an appointment for the Glendale Central Library. Walk-ins are welcome and the report will be at the reference desk.

Library Hours: Monday through Thursday - 9am - 9pm
Fridays and Saturday - 9am - 6pm 

How To Submit Your Comment 

In writing to Community Development Department, Planning Division  

633 East Broadway, Room 103 
Glendale, California 91206
Attention: Erik Krause, Deputy Director of Community Development

Facsimile to (818) 240-0392

E-mail to ekrause@glendaleca.gov, please include “Grayson Repowering Project PR-DEIR” in the subject line.

Sixty-day comment period (includes 15 day added comment period).

Partially-Recirculated Draft EIR Comment Deadline is at 5:00pm on October 8, 2021.   

Presentation to Sustainability Commission on August 5, 2021 

Presentation to the GWP Commission on August 2, 2021  

Presentation to City Council on February 6, 2018  

Presentation to City Council on April 10, 2018

Grayson Repowering Video 1 

Grayson Repowering Video 2 

Grayson Repowering Video 3

GWP Clean Energy Programs

The proposed Grayson Repowering Project is part of an integrated, diversified plan to provide reliable, clean energy of reasonable rates to serve Glendale’s businesses and residents. GWP is proud of its commitment to clean energy. GWP's 2020 Utility Modernization Report is available here. 

Demand Response and Energy Efficiency

GWP is one of the top performing publicly-owned utilities in terms of energy savings. Since 2000, GWP has invested over $49 Million in energy efficiency and demand management programs to the benefit of GWP customers. GWP energy efficiency and demand management programs have saved over 1.9 million MWh.

Every four years, each publicly-owned utility is required to set a 10-year energy efficiency target and report it to the City Council and California Energy Commission. GWP’s most recent target was established in 2020 and is found here. For the 10-year period from 2022 through 2031, GWP has committed to save an average annual net savings target of 1.86% of forecasted retail sales each year, a 60% increase over its previous target.  GWP consistently meets or exceeds its target. 

GWP has in place a number of programs designed to manage electrical demand and reduce load, particularly during hot weather periods. These programs include: Smart Home Energy Upgrades for residential and business customers; free in-home digital frames that display energy usage information; a smart thermostat program; an online store and rebates for energy efficient appliances; free shade trees to cool homes and reduce air conditioning demand; a behavioral demand response program to encourage reduced energy use when demand for energy is high; home energy reports that allows customers to track their energy usage compared to others in the community; energy benchmarking for businesses; and peak day alerts. More information on GWP’s energy efficiency programs, including information on how to sign up, is available here.

Since 2010, GWP's LED street light conversion program helps improve energy efficiency while improving lighting levels.  From inception to date, the program has reduced GWP’s electrical demand about 1.29 MW. This program is projected to reduce the emand by and estimated 1.8 MW by converting all street lights to LED. So far, GWP has completed 53.8% of street light conversions. More information on the street light program is available here. 

Local Solar and Storage

In 2002, GWP became one of the first municipal utilities to provide solar rebates ($250/kW equivalent to $250,000/MW) to its customers to encourage new solar installations within the City.  Since 2002, over 1,900 solar PV systems have been installed within the City with a capacity of 20 MW. Of those amounts, 1,300 systems and 9 MW benefited from GWP’s Solar Solutions rebate program. Separately, the City also owns a 0.261 MW solar photovoltaic system at the Glendale Community College. While the Solar Solutions program is now discontinued in order to help fund the upcoming virtual power plant, GWP continues to encourage GWP customers to go solar. Customers interested in installing solar can find more information here. 

GWP currently offers the following local solar programs:

• Net Energy Metering Program - Since 2002, GWP has offered a Net Energy Metering Program. The Net Energy Metering program allows customers to install solar or another eligible renewable facility on their property and use the renewable energy onsite to offset their utility bill. If a customer generates more renewable energy than they use over the course of a year, they may be entitled to compensation or a credit towards future utility bills. Unlike most utilities, GWP allows customers to aggregate multiple meters on the same or contiguous properties under common ownership. For more information on the Net Energy Metering program click here.
• Feed-in-Tariff Program - Since 2013, GWP has offered a Feed-in-Tariff program. The Feed-in-Tariff program allows customers to install solar or other eligible renewable energy facilities on their property and sell 100% of the energy to GWP. Information regarding the Feed-in-Tariff program is available here.

​​GWP permits private battery energy storage systems and has amended its Electric Service Requirements and has worked with the City's Building & Safety Department to coordinate and streamline the process for customers interested in installing a battery energy storage system, with or without solar. For more information on battery energy storage, click here.

In addition, beginning in 2010, GWP has worked with customers to deploy approximately 180 Ice Bear thermal energy storage systems at small and medium sized businesses as well as City facilities. The Ice Bear units use off-peak electric energy to produce ice which in turn helps reduce on-peak electrical air conditioning loads.  On the average, this program reduces peak load by 1.5 MW and shifts approximately 500 MWHs of energy from peak to off-peak annually. GWP budgets around $100K per year for operations and maintenance of the units.

Imported Renewable Resources

GWP has a diverse mix of renewable and clean energy resources including wind energy, hydroelectric energy (large and small), and geothermal resources. As the most suitable locations for utility-scale renewables and clean energy projects lie outside of Glendale, GWP has an active program to evaluate and develop new renewable projects whose energy is imported into Glendale over electric transmission lines. Some recent examples include:

• Whitegrass and Star Peak Geothermal Power. Through its membership in the Southern California Public Power Authority, GWP receives 3 MW of renewable geothermal energy from the Whitegrass #1 in Nevada. GWP will also start receiving another 12.5 MW of renewable energy from the Star Peak geothermal project, also in Nevada, starting in late 2021.
• Eland 1 Solar and Storage Center.  GWP has a 12.5% share of this project located in Kern County, California providing GWP 25 MW of solar PV coupled with 18.75 MW/75 MWH of energy storage. This project is currently in permitting and is expected to begin operation in 2023.
• Hoover Hydroelectric Power. GWP has renewed its participation to the Boulder Canyon Project (Hoover) for the next 50, through 2067, with an entitlement share equivalent to approximately 20MW. Although large hydroelectric facilities are not considered eligible for the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) under current regulations, Hoover output is carbon-free and counts towards GWP’s 100% Clean Portfolio.
• Future Solar/ Storage Project. GWP is currently in negotiation for another 25MW solar with a 12.5MW/50MWH energy storage project located in Utah which is expected to come online in 2023.

GWP’s resource mix as of 2019 (the most recently reported and audited year) includes 35.9% eligible renewable resources, and approximately 53% clean energy, which is substantially higher than most communities in California.  GWP’s resource mix is available here.

Clean Energy RFP

In 2018, GWP issued a Clean Energy Request for Proposals for Local and Regional Renewable, Low-Carbon, and Zero Carbon Energy and Capacity Resource Options to Serve the City of Glendale (Clean Energy RFP). The RFP sought clean energy alternatives to the proposed 262 MW repowering project at Grayson.  The RFP was open to any technology type and allowed for project sizes as small as 1MW.

GWP received proposals from 34 firms. Those proposals were evaluated based upon the criteria in the RFP. Top-ranking proposers were invited to in-depth interview and the highest ranking proposals were modeled by the City’s integrated resource planning consultant, Ascend Analytics, to develop an optimal portfolio of achievable clean energy resources for GWP. The results were presented to the City Council in GWP’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan on July 23, 2019. 

Through the Clean Energy RFP and the Integrated Resource Planning process, GWP has identified new, local, clean energy resources which make a smaller- sized repowering project at Grayson feasible. As outlined in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan, GWP is working to implement at least 50 MW of local distributed renewable generation, demand response, and energy efficiency programs within the City of Glendale, including:

• Up to 28 MW of solar energy with 25.25 MW/50.5 MWH of battery storage capacity through a Virtual Power Plant;
• Up to 10 MW (by year 4) of demand response resources that will reduce demand during a set number of peak demand hours over a 4-year term, through the GWP Peak Savings Program;
• Up to 8.9 MW (35,500 MWH) of energy efficiency savings from commercial energy retrofits, to be installed over a 7 year term, through the GWP Business Energy Upgrade Program;
• Evaluation of City-owned land for development of solar/ storage for community solar.

The additional megawatts of power to be achieved from these new Clean Energy programs are in addition to the energy efficiency and demand management, solar and storage, and imported renewable projects described above.  Each of the selected Clean Energy proposers was asked to provide a “stretch” goal and deliver as much distributed generation capacity as feasible, even if more than was originally included in their Clean Energy proposal. The megawatts of distributed capacity in GWP’s portfolio reflect the additional amounts of renewable capacity that the clean energy proposers were able to commit to at GWP’s request.

2019 Integrated Resource Plan

On July 23, 2019 the Glendale City Council unanimously approved GWP’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan and authorized staff to commence preliminary design, environmental reviews, permitting, detailed financial analysis, and contract negotiations for the preferred clean energy portfolio. Click here to view the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (GWP’s 2015 IRP is available here).

While City Council has approved the Limited Notice to Proceed phase of the Grayson Repowering Project, the use of new natural gas units at the power plant, and GWP’s purchase of internal combustion units are subject to the conditions set forth in the City Council’s July 23, 2019 motion.

The 2019 Integrated Resource plan will provide a diverse, clean energy portfolio of generation, transmission, and distributed generation assets. The portfolio will allow GWP to provide its customers with reliable, affordable, and environmentally sustainable power and will enable GWP to transition to a 100% clean energy future. The 2019 Integrated Resource Plan preferred portfolio includes:

• 75 megawatt (MW) 300 megawatt-hour (MWH) Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).
• 93 MW of Internal Combustion Engines
• 50 MW of distributed energy programs, including
  • Residential Distributed Energy Resources;
  • Public Spaces Distributed Energy Resources;
  • Residential and Large Commercial Energy Efficiency and Demand Response;
  • Small Commercial Energy Efficiency and Demand Response Programs.

The plan relies on GWP’s remaining, existing generation and transmission resources, including Grayson Unit 9, the Magnolia and Intermountain Power Plants, imported generation resources, and market purchases utilizing GWP’s existing transmission rights.

Per the City Council’s direction, GWP continues to seek additional clean and renewable resources while proceeding with this plan in order to further reduce Glendale’s carbon footprint. 

100% Clean Energy by 2030 Study

At the direction of City Council, in 2020, GWP undertook a study of a plan or method to achieve 100% Clean Energy by 2030.  Based upon the assumptions made in the report, the study found that it is feasible for GWP to achieve 89% clean energy around-the-clock by 2030. The study is available here: 

The study was premised on certain assumptions about GWP’s power supply.  It assumed that by 2022, Grayson Units 1 through 8 would be retired; by 2023, that GWP would install 50 MW of battery energy storage at Grayson; that by 2024, GWP would add new, as-yet-unidentified wind and solar projects to its portfolio, and that by 2025, 93 MW of reciprocating internal combustion engines would be added to the Grayson Power Plant. The study noted that GWP would need to acquire additional geothermal, wind, solar, and battery storage through 2030 to the extent possible given constraints on GWP’s transmission capacity.

The study found that pollution and carbon emissions would drop considerably, even with the 93 MW of reciprocating internal combustion engines in the portfolio.  The Study estimated achieving 89% clean energy by 2030 would raise electricity rates 28% by 2030 compared to 2021 electric rates. 

The City is conducting public meetings about the proposed Grayson repowering at the following times:  

To see the Grayson Repowering Project Timeline click here. 

To see any project presentations pertaining to the meetings above, click here.  

• 2015 IRP  
• SCAQMD Grayson HRA Notice 
• Grayson Performance Report 
• 2018 Health Risk Assessment